Power cruisers are in, and they're looking good. The genre
seems to be evolving into a modern cross between the classic
cruiser of the past and the street burner of the future.

I guess the Yamaha V-Max was first, and it was plenty
popular. Harley added to the gene pool with the V-Rod
but I'm not sure where they're going with it; the company seems
more interested in focusing only on the classics.

The irony was that this CR&S Motorcycles display was directly across from
the Harley-Davidson booth at the EICMA 2010 show.

The H-D booth
was full of the stuff you'd expect, but the crowds were ooohing
and ahhhing over the CR&S crew's take on crusing, 21st Century style.

I'm not much of a cruiser guy but these "power cruisers"
-- if
that's what they can be called -- are getting me interested. The
Ducati Diavel (report) is a looker and when I just happened to cruise,
pun intended, past the CR&S booth and laid my eyes on these
beauties, I was sucked right in.

CR&S builds custom bikes but they offer a couple of semi-custom
models to start with. The quality of the fabrication on these
machines is something to behold, both from a technical and
artistic point of view. And these babies aren't just for burning
up a 220 mm wide rear on a Saturday night; they actually make
race versions of them too. You bring the idea -- and the cash --
and they'll do it.

The irony?
CR&S
Motorcycles is a Milan based company, showing the Yanks a
thing or two about how it's done Italiano style. Check out the
photos and quick video below.